The up and coming subscription fee.

[Atrayo]

The stated fee of $29.95 a month for playing this game or any is steep,just think of the yearly fees.You guys should rethink your pricing model,cause you guys(developer/game publisher) will be price gouging the end users.The mainstream of quality online games out there charge from $9.95-$14.95 a month.Or,is this game marketed to only the rich,and screw the rest of the gamers who are interested in what your offering?I'm not a teenager either,i'm a 29 year old adult.And,half of your subscription base will be under the age of 18,maybe a minority of parents will cough up $29.95 a month,but most parents will shaft your interested users.I hope after your beta all goes well for you,but don't be surpriesd what i say comes to pass.Good luck on your project as always.Ciao!

[Fishu]

You have to take a look into WarBirds, which costs almost $2 per hour, now thats cheap(!).
Quality games, depends on that how you define quality game, by realism, graphics or other stuff...
I say Aces High is good (if not yet totally, I believe and hope it will be), and might be worth of $29.95.. although, it is pretty expensive.
Talking more of WarBirds, it has seem to atract people alot even though it does cost $2/hour.
I am not sure myself am I able to continue with $29.95 fees..

[Gabby]

Yea $29.95 is alot and its gonna hurt but i have been thinking I can wing it , Hell
I can live on bread and water, hey they
PAY for blood, be ceative. This is the first
online flight sim ive played ( for 3 weeks
now )and this SIM is awsome and addictive AND its still in BETA! $2 an hour for the other sims! , no way I can do that... $29.95
... I'll find a way.

Keep up the good work HTC!

Gabby out .....
 

[-sudz-]

You don't know when the game is going pay-for-play and the state of the game at that point.  Undoubtedly there will be more planes, smoother interfaces, and god knows what else.

Think about how far the game has come in 6 months (clouds, bombers, exotic planes) and you can imagine what will happen in the next year. (Carrier groups, etc)

Hell, I spend more than 30 on one night out and that only lasts 6 hrs.

But if we're just trying to browbeat HTC into a cheaper price, just for the sake of haggling, I say HTC should pay us!  Beta for free?!  Come on!  That may have flown in the days before Quake but I'm not used to paying for playing online with my buddy BooBoo - he's 7 and can't get his parent's credit card.  Get into the new millenium HTC and quit this "I wanna make a living" crap!

-sudz-

[Thorns]

Huh?  Somehow I don't think complaining about how much a flight-sim game is going to cost is the proper way of getting your point acoss.  This is a high end flight sim and to dogfight in the canyons or in the clouds is something I haven't found in other flight-sims.  I'm hoping the advertising will bring the price down.  So get the word out to some advertisers.....who knows, if you get enough advertisers, their payment might exceed HiTech's expectations and he might pass some savings on to the members.  Also, maybe a six month subscription might be less than a one month subscription....<G>  The point is, if you can't pay you won't play, and if enough don't play............do the math.  I see an extra $10.00 a month as a way to keep some of the undesirables from ruining a great place like Aces High.  There are plenty of other flight-sims your children can learn to swear in.......

Butchawk(Thorns_Musketeer)

[Razz]

Well all I can say is screw Warbirds.  Its an awesome game but they charge WAY too much. 2 bucks an hour is ridiculous and its unfortunate that people pay that much to play.  I say this because if no one played it then they would get the hint.  Well anyway my point is that 29.9 is steep, but as long as its a FLAT rate it will not cost HALF as much as Warbirds.  Flat rates are better than hour charges by far and im sure everyone will agree. Hell, with Warbirds you pay 29.95 a month, get 5 hours free and then the bastards have the nerve to charge another 2 bucks an hour. Pure Greed I say.  Anyway Im done.

[Dinger]

Whingeing about the price isn't going to bring it down.  It is higher than your average online game, and targets people with more than a passing interest in the subject.  For many it is a reasonable sum for a hobby, for others it's way too high.  While charging a certain sum of money will keep out many of those just looking to raise trouble; the perceived high price will not exclude foul mouthed ackstar vulching dweebs.  Anyway, this isn't the first thread on the subject, and it won't be the last.  And it won't change anybody's mind.  A price war in an oversaturated market is more likely to do that  .
BTW, in my recollection, the demographics for this kind of flight sim is not "50% under 18", but rather mostly educated males 25-45, or something like that.
In all fairness to Brand W, it's the $10/month plan that only gets you 5 hours.

[Atrayo]

Well i'm not whining about it,and i'm not a trouble maker either.Also,by raising the bar per se and have a dedicated group only play kind of shuts out the would be players who wish to be dedicated,but can't pay thru the nose.I do hope that they offer better rates for the quarterally and semi-annual plan than this.All i say is time will tell if i'm wrong or right,and i'm a patient sort too.

[Mark Luper]

Atrayo,
I have been in situations when looking at paying for online sims seemed a bit daunting when I didn't know what I was going to get. I cringed at paying $10 a month to race stock cars online once. I cancelled that account because of the instability of the servers we were trying to race on. Now this is from a guy who has layed down as much as $200 a month to play Warbirds!

$29.95 seems cheap to me for a flat rate and unlimited flying time. I have tried other flight sims and havn't found one that compares favorably (in my opinion) either to this one or Warbirds.

It basically boils down to whether or not you feel what you get in here (Aces High) is worth the money. If it isn't, don't play it. If it is, then pay it :-).

I just hope that HTC can make enough with this low price to make enough money to make it worthwhile to them. Badgering anyone for any thing is, in my humble opinion, in poor taste. There are more constructive ways to approach issues.

Regardless of what our personal opinions are on this subject, I don't beleive all the text in the world is going to change it. Are they ever going to change the price? They may, but it will be up to them, not constant whining about prices on this or any other bulletin board.

You say you are a patient person. I hope so, because I think you have an awfully long wait ahead...


MarkAT

[Cobra]

In the final analysis, it will be up to each and every individual to vote with his/her checkbook (credit card).  Pay or not to pay.

This sim is shaping up to be a fine product.

The free market system (and competition) will be the ultimate arbitrator for the rates, high or low.

IMHO, HiTech Creations challenge is to create a top-notch product in an ever-increasing growing field, and then to meet the expectations of whatever business model they set forth at the beginning of this project.  So the technical aspects most be good enough to please a sim crowd that is becoming more discerning, and the business aspects must satisfy the owners/investors.  Not always an easy chore for any business or industry.

[Pongo]

Well I think that there stratagy is very effective.
I would not have played it for 10 dollars a month when I started. Now I have bought over 200 dollars in hardware and would def. pay 25-30 Canadian to continue. The problem is stretching that up to 45 $ Canadian.
At the very least I would try to get on every second month.

[Shepard121]

I also think $29.95 is  bit steep.  Not for someone who plays 30 hours a week, no sir, that's a deal for them, but what about the guy who plays maybe 10-15 hours a month?

My suggestion:
Maybe have a weekly unlimited, and weekend unlimited rates, and then a rate for both being the premium rate.

Just my $29.95.


to the guy who spends $200 on Warbirds... must be nice... If I had $200 a month to spend on an online flight sim, the question in my mind would be, "I wonder what them poor folks are flying these days?"

-Shep

[Kats]

Unfortunately, 29.95 per year is going to be to expensive for some people. The line has to be drawn somewhere. Considering people spend 100's on just the hardware like j-sticks etc and 1000's on keeping their PC powerfull, it's reasonable to assume epople would be willing to spend 350 per year on a hobby that offers unlimited play and is constantly evolving. Heck if you go to agw right now and say 50/month flat rate, champaign would start flowing  

[scotty12]

Simply put I am willing to stop warbirds which I only pay around 12 dollars a month because I fly on the free arena most of the time.  I am willing to pay 15 to 20 dollars a month for Aces High.  But I cannot afford to pay 30 dollars a month.  I think 29.95 is close to 30 dollars wouldn't you agree.
I believe the 30 dollars a month might go down in the future, because lets face it, this is the real world.  This is the best sim I have come across, but I'm not shelling out 30 bucks a month.  And yes according to this post this is the place to whine about prices.
This is a forum post, and everyone has the right to say how they feel about prices.
You would have to agree the majority of people out there believe 30 bucks a month is too expensive "PERIOD".

[scotty12]

By the way, I'm 46 years old.